Re: From a real novice

Thanks for the insite, Rod.

> -----Original Message-----
> From: Rod Kreisler [mailto:rod(at)23net(dot)net]
> Sent: Monday, March 24, 2003 1:27 PM
> To: Josh Berkus; Tamir Halperin; pgsql-novice(at)postgresql(dot)org
> Subject: Re: [NOVICE] From a real novice
>
>
> At 10:14 AM 3/24/2003 -0800, Josh Berkus wrote:
> >Tamir,
> >
> > > I've just been abandoned by my FreeBSD/PostgreSQL
> administrator just as we
> > > were setting things up for our test server. I hope if I
> provide as much of
> > > the specs as I can get my hands on, someone on the list
> will be able to
> > > help me with my problem.
> >
> > From the rest of the description of your problem, you
> really need the
> >assistance of a BSD admin at least. That person can get help for the
> >postgres-specific problems on this list or elsewhere, but
> assisting you with
> >both Postgresql and with BSD is probably beyond the
> capability of any mailing
> >list. Further, if you are new to both, you are likely to
> damage something
> >(most likely system security) in poking around to learn
> what's what. And
> >this sounds like it's supposed to be a production test system.
>
> True this. Tamir, I'd suggest you bite the bullet and contract a pro.

I was hoping for a little more optimism from the novice list and not such a rapid retort about that endlessly daunting handbook.

> >If you have plenty of time, buy a book on BSD admin, and
> learn BSD before you
> >try to learn Postgres on BSD. Make sense?
> >
> > > Although pgsql seems to be installed, I do not know why
> pgsql isn't running
> > > or starting at the time the system comes up. It doesn't
> show up in the TOP
> > > list.
> >
> >This would require a startup script wherever BSD keeps startup
> >scripts. I'm a
> >Linux user, so I can't give you pointers on this one.
> Suffice it to say that
> >startup scripts are *not* part of the PostgreSQL install.
>
> Tamir, when installed via ports, a startup script that needs minimal
> editing will be placed in /usr/local/etc/rc.d

My problem is that I can't get postgresql to install via the ports because it wants openssl to be installed. However, I succesfully installed openssl so I don't know where to go from here. It's not like I'm going to find a chapter in the handbook that describes what to do when an installation fails due to a dependancy on another package that is fully installed.

> > > 3. I assume I can ensure I have the most recent
> installation support by
> > > doing a cvsup but I really only want to get my hands on
> the most recent
> > > pgsql for FreeBSD. How is this possible?
> >
> >If you are a newbie, you should not be messing with
> Postgres-CVS. Stick to a
> >stable version instead, which is downloadable from the
> Postgres web site.
>
> Josh, FreeBSD cvsup has nothing to do with CVS software. It
> has to do
> with upgrading the OS and/or applications. The name is misleading.

The issue of upgrading the system came up when someone suggested that I don't have crypto installed and that I shouldn't try to mess with 4.6 any longer but rather just upgrade to 4.7 or 4.8 (as of today, I believe).

Then came the issue of how to do that. I have read page after page of information on how to upgrade and there's just nothing out there that I can make enough sense of.

Some people learn a lot better by example rather than by formula. I'm one of them. But it appears the entire UNIX community started out with people who's brains not only understood formulas easily but even liked to build systems and document them in heavily formulaic fashions. My challenge.

So this is why I thought it would be useful to submit such questions to the novice list. What I'm really looking for, I suppose, is someone who's willing to spend some time communicating things by example. Unfortunately, I have no budget for a high priced consultant at this point. An equity partner in a very lucrative project yes! But not a payed consultant.

> Tamir, You can write a supfile that will only upgrade certain ports.

Really? I thought you can only fine tune it down to the ports category level of granularity.

> > > 4. We did minimal work on the previous version and I
> don't need to save any
> > > of the data or configuration information as it may exist
> in various
> > > configuration files throughout my FreeBSD system. How can
> I ensure that
> > > I've removed all of these before I do my new installation?
> >
> >They will all be in the $PGDATA directory, database and
> config files both.
> >
> > > At a time like this I can not describe how grateful I would be for
> > > someone's detailed and very patient assistance. I am
> truly a novice. If
> > > this request belongs in a different group, then please do
> instruct me as to
> > > which one.
> >
> >As I said above, I think you need a consultant.
> >
> >--
> >Josh Berkus
> >Aglio Database Solutions
> >San Francisco
> >
> >
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